Autophagosomes are at the center of attention, at least since the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded for research on autophagy in 2016. The much talked about autophagosomes are small membrane vesicles in charge of waste disposal to promote recycling of its components.

Scientists of the Leibniz–Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin and the CECAD Research Center in Cologne who work on degradation and recycling processes in cells, recently made a striking discovery: They found that autophagosomes transport growth signals such as brain–derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) along axons (long slender nerve cell projections) to the cell body. This signaling process enables survival of nerve cells and stimulates the formation of new branched neurites that allow neurons to interconnect. Nerve cells in the brain will die if the autophagosomal taxis cease to operate. The new discovery shows autophagosomes in a completely new light and fuels hope for new treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The results of this research were published in the journal Nature Communications.